Dorries quits as Media Secretary
September 6, 2022
By Colin Mann
Nadine Dorries is to step down as UK Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), following the election of Liz Truss as new leader of the governing Conservative Party.
Although a supporter of Truss’s candidacy, it is understood she was given the opportunity to carry on in Cabinet but had chosen instead to return to the backbenches. It is expected that she will now be given a peerage in outgoing Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s resignation honours list, triggering a by-election in her Mid Bedfordshire constituency.
Penny Mordaunt, who was beaten candidate in the Conservative leadership contest, is being considered to take at the DCMS, according to reports.
Dorries’ tenure was marked by a number of blunders, most notably during a DCMS Select Committee appearance in November 2021, where she wrongly claimed that Channel 4 was “in receipt of public money” which is not the case. In April 2022, she revealed in a series of tweets that she intended to proceed with the privatisation of the broadcaster.
The DCMS published a White Paper policy document on April 28th confirming that Dorries planned to move Channel 4 out of public ownership to become a privately-owned public service broadcaster similar to ITV and Channel 5.
With the UK parliament currently in recess, it will be for Dorries’ successor to oversee any legislation resulting from the White Paper.